2009ApJ...701.1644W

The fraction of Compton-thick sources is one of the main uncertainties left in understanding the active galactic nucleus (AGN) population. The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) all-sky survey for the first time gives us an unbiased sample of AGNs for all but the most heavily absorbed sources N_H > 10²⁵/cm2). Still, the BAT spectra (14-195 keV) are time averaged over months of observations and therefore hard to compare with softer spectra from the Swift XRT or other missions. This makes it difficult to distinguish between Compton-thin and Compton-thick models. With Suzaku, we have obtained simultaneous hard (>15 keV) and soft (0.3-10 keV) X-ray spectra for five Compton-thick candidate sources. We report on the spectra and a comparison with the BAT and earlier XMM observations. Based on both flux variability and spectral shape, we conclude that these hidden sources are not Compton thick. We also report on a possible correlation between excess variance and Swift BAT luminosity from the 16 day binned light curves, which holds true for a sample of both absorbed (four sources), unabsorbed (eight sources), and Compton-thick (Circinus) AGNs, but is weak in the 64 day binned BAT light curves.